The screaming had lasted for hours.
743 had thought he had become accustomed to the sounds of torture and pain having been subjected to it every hour of his existence but this- this was different, and he could not even explain why.
For the first hour, her screams of pain had been shrill and breathy. As if she could not catch her breath. The sounds of her pain-filled screams had affected everyone that had ears. Even the guards who were returning 189 to his cell seemed upset. The tall one looked as if was going to be sick when she had begun screaming.
Time passed and her screams became deep guttural sounds of pain that had churned his stomach and set his teeth on edge.
And then finally all he could hear were muffled gasps. Not because she was no longer in pain but because she had screamed her voice away.
After what seemed like an eternity the guards had brought her back to her cell. They had carried her slight weight between the two of them with her tiny body wound into a tight protective ball. The tall one looked even more ill. The Mads had laid on her mat, holding her knees to her chest, still as the dead, and tense for another eternity.
743 had tried to ignore her and her suffering. He had worked out for hours and then slept and then worked out some more. Her suffering should not affect him as it did. He felt somehow attached to the tiny human. Which was insane. Maybe all the torture and experimental drug testing had finally driven him mad.
She was a female but still a human. Humans did not get his concern. So why had this tiny human female consumed all of his thoughts since the moment he had watched her be dragged in by her hair?
Maybe it was simply because she was a female. Or maybe it was because she did not act like any of the humans he had the misfortune of knowing.
Regardless of her genetic makeup he had somehow become attached and he had to figure out what to do about it.
Food came three times before the Mads moved. She did not shift positions on her mat she only trembled. Not one part of her stayed still. She shook all over as if she had no control. Her shakes continued through the night and into the next day until finally her whole body slumped all at once and her breathing became deep and even.
She had then slept for two days straight without so much as even waking to eat. Two days that had 743 pacing and worrying and... attached. He did not like it. He did not like that she still slept. He did not like to only see her weird little nose poking out of her blanket she had wrapped around her. He did like the fact that she had not eaten or really moved in five days.
"Is she going to sleep until they come to drug her again?" 633 was sat in the furthest corner of his cell, the smell of sickness rolling off him in waves, and staring at the Mads through half-closed eyes.
"The drug has been out of her system for two days. She should be up by now." 189 quit his pull-ups to move closer and stare at the human in question. "But humans are much weaker than us. She is no stronger than the other females."
The statement made 743 see red. The other females were dead. He did not like 189 grouping her with the other females. The Mads would survive. 743 would make sure of that. Somehow. Frustration and fear came to a boiling point inside of him and 743 let it out in a howl.
She jolted where she lay and her eyes popped open. Her head swiveled in his direction and her unnerving green eyes watched him. All he could do was stare back. It was... unsettling. Until she closed her eyes and did not open them again- then he became angry.
"Madeline!" She jolted again but this time glared at him.
"What?" Her voice was a rasp and her eyes closed again like she would go back to sleep as soon as he finished speaking.
"Wake up." This time he snarled in an attempt to scare her into waking. She responded only by scowling in his direction but still did not open her eyes. "You have been sleeping for too long. You need to eat to keep strong."
"I'm not hungry." Another mangled rasp that he could barely hear.
Obviously, she had no fear of him. Or she was too exhausted to feel it. How was he supposed to get her up and moving without bodily moving her himself?
"This human is so odd compared to the others." 633 spoke up from his cell. 743 glanced towards his cell to see him smirk and shake his head. "She did not flinch when you snarled. She only clenched her fists and scowled at you. As if, instead of fleeing or screaming, she wanted to fight you."
She never reacted as humans normally did around them. She did not show or feel fear when she had met him. The other females had all screamed their heads off and when the shock of seeing them had worn off they had been docile and careful of them. The Mads had not. She had shown her anger and frustration openly. Which gave 743 an idea.
"Madeline!" He snarled his best menacing snarl. Her eyes popped open again and her lip curled in disgust. "You are to stop sleeping." Her brow furrowed. "You will wake up." Angry lines began to appear on her forehead. "You will eat the food the guards have brought you. And you will exercise. Do it now." Her mouth dropped open in outrage.
743 watched in satisfaction as she bolted upright and shoved her body towards his cage. Nostrils flared, scowl set, green eyes sparked in outrage.
Madeline shoved to her feet and glowered at the domineering male. Well, she attempted to glower. It came out less menacing and more like 'oh shit I stood up too fast and now dizzy blackness is the world I have to live in'. Which wasn't menacing in the least bit. Mads braced herself with a hand on the bars in a bid to stay off the ground. After a long moment, the dizziness passed and she could see again. So she cranked up her glower and directed it at 734.
"Listen, ya big butthead." Hell, was that her voice? That ridiculous pathetic croak? "You don't get to tell me what to do." Mads moved to shove her finger at him but then ended up swaying where she stood as little black dots blurred her vision. She couldn't even point her finger without her body threatening to faint on her? This was fucking ridiculous.
The dizzier she was the madder she got. Because first of fucking all: who the fuck tortured another human being like that and just calmly stood back and took notes while she screamed and screamed? She didn't even have a word to describe the kind of twisted a person had to be to think that was okay. To think that the males around her had been enduring that their whole lives just made her want to cry. When she escaped she'd make sure every single one of those assholes was put in prison.
And secondly: what the hell was his problem? Why did he think he could boss her around? Why did he think she would just bow down and let him dictate to her? The old pathetic Madeline would have kowtowed to him as soon as she looked at him. But she hadn't been that person in a very long time- not since her teens. And here he was trying to remind her of that pathetic person she'd been.
"Eat." His rough voice was softer now but no less demanding. When she glared at his stupidly pretty face he opened his mouth again. "You will not feel so dizzy if you eat."
Well, logic wasn't a thing she could argue with but she didn't have to like his tone.
"Stop bossing me around for fucks sake." As she spoke she moved towards the waiting food and took stock of her hurts.
The burning ripping pain had abated a while ago and the shaking had finally stopped. But Christ, did she ache. Her limbs felt like they were weighted down and it took too much effort to move. Which in turn just pissed her off all the more. It should not take her two minutes to go five feet. Those fuckers had done this to her and who knew when they were gonna drag her back for more.
Someone growled behind her but Mads was too tired to turn and see who made that aggravated noise.
"Next time you will not sleep so much." The tone was outraged and all commanding. "You are too weak."
Madeline couldn't get up the gumption to be annoyed at him. He was right. She'd gone too long without eating but she'd been so goddamned tired after all that torture and full body shakes.
She all but slumped in front of the food tray and began shoving food into her mouth. The urge to puke made her tongue heavy and a cold sweat break out all over her but she forced the food down anyway. When half her food was gone and she no longer felt like puking Madeline could think again.
"189," Madeline shoved the rest of her food away as searched the opposite cage for the green-eyed man. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you a lot?" It was a stupid question. Of course, they had hurt him. She just wanted to make sure he was alive.
He was hanging from the top of his cage and doing pull-ups. He looked well enough. Christ, with all those muscles bulging he looked like he could take apart his cage with just a flick of his wrist. He paused in a pull-up to glare in her direction. After a moment of glaring, he went back to exercising.
"I'm fine, Mads." Annoyed, Madeline channeled her third-grader self and deepened her voice. "As you can see from my macho man pull-ups my injuries aren't fatal so you don't need to worry about it. Also, I think you, Mads, are the best and most awesome person I've ever met."
"Wow, thank you 189." She made her voice normal again and watched in satisfaction as he paused and cocked his head in confusion at her. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
633 chuckled while 734 frowned at her. 189 finally stopped his exercising to frown at her too.
"I do not sound like that female and I would not say that." 189 growled and shot a look at 633 who was still chuckling.
"You said it with your eyes." Madeline felt a wee bit immature but at the moment she did not care. "I just interpreted for you."
"I did not!"